Field images from the studied part of the Chinese Tianshan metamorphoc belt a) Blueschist-facies pillow basalt with eclogite-facies rims along the pillow margins. b) Blueschist- to eclogite-facies veins of omphacite-quartz (OQ), glaucophane-quartz (GQ), ankerite (A) and calcite (Cc). c) Thick veins of quartz and ankerite in an eclogite. d) Decimetric veins of quartz in a high-pressure metapelite indicating Si-rich fluid circulation. Note that the veins show deformation structures similar to the metapelites, implying their formation before or during deformation.

Scan of the polished sample of fracture upper plate material (field of view 5 cm). The black veins correspond to ancient pseudotachylite veins that are interpreted as the record of subduction zone earthquakes rooted in the hanging wall.

Tectonic plates sinking over millions of years? Megaearth-quakes & tsunamis? Global fluxes of elements?… How do stresses and energy release, via earth-quakes and fluid-mediated mass transfer, interact on such varied spatial and temporal scales (from 10-4 to 106-7 yr)? Time to ZIP (Zoom In between Plates), into the subduction plate interface!

Several ZIP fellows and scientists contribute to this year’s EGU General Assembly in Vienna and will present their work between the 18th and 22nd of April. We have compiled all ZIP presentations below and are looking forward to your visit as well as fruitful discussions with you.

Relocation of the Mw 6.4 July 1, 2009 earthquake to the south of Crete and modeling of its associated small tsunami
Gian Maria Bocchini, Gerassimos A. Papadopoulos, Tatiana Novikova, Vassilis K. Karastathis, Aggelos Mouzakiotis, and Nikolaos Voulgaris

the Second European Mineralogical Conference will be held in Rimini, Italy, from 11 to 15 September, 2016. The Registration and Call for Abstracts are now open at the address http://emc2016.socminpet.it
The conference is organized on 16 themes with 42 thematic sessions. We would like to draw your attention on the following session:

Click on the image to open the EMC 2016 flyer

P7 Fluids and melts in the subduction factory: genesis and implications

Subduction zones are active geodynamic environments enabling crustal recycing into the mantle and generating new continental crust. Of particular importance is the slab-mantle wedge system at 40-200 km depth. It is increasingly recognized that subduction materials are modified in this region by metamorphism, metasomatism and mechanical mixing with vast implications for the physico-chemical state of subduction zones. At the plate-interface of subduction zones, fluids, melts and rocks derived from subducting lithosphere interact with depleted mantle in a region of strong chemical and physical gradients. These interactions mediate planetary-scale volatile cycling, produce arc magmas and continental crust and yield modified subducted lithosphere and mantle-wedge peridotites whose chemical signals may persist in the deep Earth for billions of years. We welcome all contributions from geochemistry, petrology, experimental, modeling and field studies that address the major processes operating in the subduction system through geologic time from trenches to depths of ~100 km and beyond.

Deadline for abstract submission is May 9

We look forward to attract your interest and see many of you at the session

The ZIP project will hold a meeting prior to the EGU in Vienna on April 17th and interested scientists and students are welcome to participate. This informal mini-workshop will focus on intermediate-depth seismicity but also on what plate interface lithologies might look like, how they react and deform. ZIP fellows and scientists will give insights into recent research projects and subsequent discussions are intended to foster cross-disciplinary interactions between scientists. For a detailed program please see the attached PDF file.

The meeting will take place at the Gasthaus Stafler (5 minutes walk from Meidling Hauptstrasse station (line U4)) and start at 14:30 local time.